Solely due to being the cheaper of the two, Nikka From The Barrel was the most likely to have been clicked into the checkout first, yet a stroke of luck came my way and both appeared at my door within a week of each other. Granted, back then the £50 mark was pretty excessive compared to my supermarket bottle of Highland Black 8yo at £14. Both seemed easily accessible online and didn’t send my low tolerance for expensive whisky into shock. Nikka From The Barrel and Hibiki Harmony. Doing more research than I ever put into school homework, I narrowed it down to two bottles which seemed to truly stand out. While this was the hazy days before Dramface, I scoured many great review websites as well as spending many a late evening sat at my kitchen table, iPad propped up on my latest bottle purchased, flitting from Youtube review to review like a bee at a picnic. Neither, I grant you, are even close to the surface of true cultural elements, but enough to make me want to dive deeper. This tied in with an appreciation of Japanese culture from a young age, stemming from being fascinated by the woodblock print of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa and spending far too many hours on the PC game classic Shogun:Total War. As my curious and naive eyes skimmed all the “best whisky” articles I could find, a bottle of Japanese (or not so Japanese, as it turned out) whisky always seemed to have a high ranking place. ![]() Kicked off by Yochi 10 Single Cask from Nikka Whiskey taking the number one spot in the “2001 Best of the Best” Whisky Magazine blind tasting, the hype was still high as I rocked up to the party 17 years later. At the beginning of my journey and in truth long before I explored anything Campbeltown, those Hypebeasts wanted Japanese Whisky. The closest I would say now would be the highly demanded Springbank but fortunately they are not selling branded bricks for $30… even though I can imagine the flippers hovering over the add to cart button if they did. This term stems from a streetwear and culture blog, stirring a frenzy of demand for the latest red rectangle Supreme t-shirt or a pair of chunky “ugly sneakers”, yet I wonder if this culture also occurs in the whisky world? I always felt that I was a fraction too old (or financially tight) to get caught up in the culture of being a “ Hypebeast” which took alot of my friends by storm. Of course, having said power I would provide myself a mighty long shopping list of bottles to grab while the going was good, but let's move past this Doc Brown tangent and get back to the review.īack then, as I sat alone, watching every Scotch documentary, detailing every drop I sipped in my chicken scratch notebook, there was one hype train I quickly discovered. If I could tell my 25 year old self that Dramface would allow me to spew incoherent whisky wibble online, I would’ve confused myself, and rightly so. I continue to still see myself as a newbie splashing his toes into scotch. It feels a little surreal to think I have been a whisky enthusiast for at least five years. Way before the time when we first heard the phrase “lockdown” in every news report, this bottle, as well as quite a few others, was purchased in November 2018. Yet as I got halfway through writing this review, researching how much I paid for this bottle, I was shocked to find my whisky deep dive started at least two years earlier. I have always marked my explosion of whisky passion as the year of 2020, which as you can imagine had multiple factors fueling those flames. Both the flavor and texture come to an end with a soft ebb and flow until you hardly notice it anymore.Has the rising passion for Japanese Whisky finally set? The mid palate gently carries you into a wonderfully soft finish where the heat builds slowly and pleasantly. ![]() Palate: Initial is bright and lively, lifting you up and bringing you to attention, forcing you to focus and really appreciate all the flavors being presented to you. Some soft honey aromas creep out from under the heavier blanket of oak and are carried through with a pleasant hint of varnish. Nose: Rich wooden flooring, the kind that gives you a sense of presence in a really old building. In 2018 Hibiki Harmony released a special bottle design, inspired by traditional kimono patterns and adorned with a tabane-noshi. It deepens into rich light browns where the liquor is thicker. Vital Stats: Japanese blended whisky of undisclosed mash bill of 10 different malt and grain whiskies aged in 5 different types of oak for an undisclosed amount of time and bottled at 43% ABV in 750mL bottles for around $75 USDĪppearance: This whisky has great clarity, and a golden tone that just glows asking to be sipped. Hibiki Japanese Harmony (image via Beam Suntory) Tasting Notes: Hibiki Japanese Harmony
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